After achieving an A* in 2017, I am sharing my quality revision notes, essays, templates and tactics to help ambitious students reach their goals. These resources have proven a hit across the globe with students and teachers alike - download yourself to see why!
Chat with me on twitter @astarlevels or just drop me an email... happy revising!
After achieving an A* in 2017, I am sharing my quality revision notes, essays, templates and tactics to help ambitious students reach their goals. These resources have proven a hit across the globe with students and teachers alike - download yourself to see why!
Chat with me on twitter @astarlevels or just drop me an email... happy revising!
I’ve created a comprehensive set of notes for every topic in A Level English Language. There are 9 pages here full of theorists, linguists, facts, stats, examples, real world application and more. I used these notes only alongside practice questions & achieved an A* in 2017.
Why they work:
Easy to learn, concise, bullet point revision notes
Omitted endless details on methodology and results
Replaced these with meaningful comments on each study to form the basis of your argument in the exam (crucial to enter top bands!)
Summary sheet includes:
theories and models of change i.e. S curve, semantic reclamation, descriptivism/ prescriptivism, damp spoon/ crumbling castle/ infectious disease, substratum theory, wave model, functional theory
metaphors for change and language discourses
a table of linguists and their studies, findings, opinions (really useful to refer to)
detailed breakdown of debate over whether language change is a process of evolution or decay
texting and change
how new words cause change
politcal corrrectness and change
technology and language change
outline of answer to essay question ‘discuss how new words enter the language’
Notes for all six topics in A Level English Language
Model essays for all topics in A Level English Language
Check out my shop for more: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/astarlevels
I’ve created a comprehensive set of notes for every topic in A Level Psychology. They completely cover the specification, condensing all the key theories, studies, applications and evaluations into one booklet. I used these notes only alongside practice questions & achieved an A* in 2017.
Why they work:
> Organised according to, and covering entirely, the AQA specification.
> All AO1 and AO3 ready to answer exam questions
> Presented in a concise and memorable way
It covers every topic in this area of the spec:
• Classification of schizophrenia. Positive symptoms of schizophrenia, including hallucinations and
delusions. Negative symptoms of schizophrenia, including speech poverty and avolition. Reliability
and validity in diagnosis and classification of schizophrenia, including reference to co-morbidity,
culture and gender bias and symptom overlap.
• Biological explanations for schizophrenia: genetics, the dopamine hypothesis and neural correlates.
• Psychological explanations for schizophrenia: family dysfunction and cognitive explanations
including dysfunctional thought processing.
• Drug therapy: typical and atypical antipsychotics.
• Cognitive behaviour therapy and family therapy as used in the treatment of schizophrenia. Token
economies as used in the management of schizophrenia.
• The importance of an interactionist approach in explaining and treating schizophrenia; the diathesisstress model.
Please see my shop for resources to fully prepare you for the exam: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/astarlevels
Complete revision notes including a range of exciting studies, concepts and theories. I achieved an A* in 2017 using these notes alongside practice questions
Why they work:
Easy to learn, concise, bullet point revision notes
Show different lines of arguments that can be used to ‘evaluate’ an idea which is crucial to enter the top bands
Omitted endless details on methodology and results
Replaced these with meaningful comments on each study to form the basis of your argument in the exam (crucial to enter top bands!)
It includes information on:
Early writing
Stages of writing development
Spelling
Types of spelling mistake
Overcoming these challenges
The effects of accent and dialect on spelling
Hand writing development
Socio economic issues surrounding child language development
The ways parents can support children
Scaffolding
The influence of technology
Phonics
Genre
Practice essay questions
Notes on Spoken CLA
Model essay for CLA
Check out my shop for more
I’ve created a comprehensive set of notes for every topic in A Level Psychology. They completely cover the specification, condensing all the key theories, studies, applications and evaluations into one booklet. I used these notes only alongside practice questions & achieved an A* in 2017.
Why they work:
> Organised according to, and covering entirely, the AQA specification.
> All AO1 and AO3 ready to answer exam questions
> Presented in a concise and memorable way
It covers every topic in this area of the spec:
• Gender and culture in psychology – universality and bias. Gender bias including androcentrism and alpha and beta bias; cultural bias, including ethnocentrism and cultural relativism.
• Free will and determinism: hard determinism and soft determinism; biological, environmental and psychic determinism. The scientific emphasis on causal explanations.
• The nature-nurture debate: the relative importance of heredity and environment in determining behaviour; the interactionist approach.
• Holism and reductionism: levels of explanation in psychology. Biological reductionism and environmental (stimulus-response) reductionism.
• Idiographic and nomothetic approaches to psychological investigation.
• Ethical implications of research studies and theory, including reference to social sensitivity.
Please do check out my shop as I have over 100 other revision resources. DM me on Twitter @astarlevels if you have any questions. Good luck in your exams!
I’ve created a comprehensive set of notes for every topic in A Level Psychology. They completely cover the specification, condensing all the key theories, studies, applications and evaluations into one booklet. I used these notes only alongside practice questions & achieved an A* in 2017.
Why they work:
> Organised according to, and covering entirely, the AQA specification.
> All AO1 and AO3 ready to answer exam questions
> Presented in a concise and memorable way - easy to learn!
Includes:
• Problems in defining crime. Ways of measuring crime, including official statistics, victim surveys and offender surveys.
• Offender profiling: the top-down approach, including organised and disorganised types of offender; the bottom-up approach, including investigative Psychology; geographical profiling.
• Biological explanations of offending behaviour: an historical approach (atavistic form); genetics and neural explanations.
• Psychological explanations of offending behaviour: Eysenck’s theory of the criminal personality;
cognitive explanations; level of moral reasoning and cognitive distortions, including hostile attribution
bias and minimalisation; differential association theory; psychodynamic explanations.
• Dealing with offending behaviour: the aims of custodial sentencing and the psychological effects
of custodial sentencing. Recidivism. Behaviour modification in custody. Anger management and restorative justice programmes.
Check out my shop for more AQA A Level Psychology resources: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/astarlevels
I’ve created a comprehensive set of notes for every topic in A Level Psychology. They completely cover the specification, condensing all the key theories, studies, applications and evaluations into one booklet. I used these notes only alongside practice questions & achieved an A* in 2017.
Why they work:
> Organised according to, and covering entirely, the AQA specification.
> All AO1 and AO3 ready to answer exam questions
> Presented in a concise and memorable way - easy to learn
It covers every topic in this area of the spec:
* The evolutionary explanations for partner preferences, including the relationship between sexual selection and human reproductive behaviour.
• Factors affecting attraction in romantic relationships: self-disclosure; physical attractiveness, including the matching hypothesis; filter theory, including social demography, similarity in attitudes and complementarity.
• Theories of romantic relationships: social exchange theory, equity theory and Rusbult’s investment model of commitment, satisfaction, comparison with alternatives and investment. Duck’s phase model of relationship breakdown: intra-psychic, dyadic, social and grave dressing phases.
• Virtual relationships in social media: self-disclosure in virtual relationships; effects of absence of gating on the nature of virtual relationships.
• Parasocial relationships: levels of parasocial relationships, the absorption addiction model and the attachment theory explanation.
Check out my shop for more AQA A Level Psychology: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/astarlevels
A complete set of notes for child language acquisition full of theorists, linguists, facts, stats, examples, application and more. I used these notes only alongside practice questions to achieve an A* in 2017.
Why they work:
Easy to learn, concise, bullet point revision notes
Show different lines of arguments that can be used to ‘evaluate’ an idea which is crucial to enter the top bands
Omitted endless details on methodology and results
Replaced these with meaningful comments on each study to form the basis of your argument in the exam (crucial to enter top bands!)
Summary sheet includes:
The stages of acquisition
Different things to pick out in a transcript given in the exam & what to say about them
Nativist approach
Constructivists
Nurture approach
Cognitive approach
Notes for written & multi modal language acquisition
Full revision for Paper 1
Model essays for all topics in A Level English Language, including child language
Check out my shop for more: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/astarlevels
I’ve created a comprehensive set of notes for every topic in A Level Psychology. This includes 23 pages of colourful, concise notes & 80 flashcards covering the entire specification . I used these notes only alongside practice questions & achieved an A* in 2017.
Why they work:
Organised according to, and covering entirely, the AQA specification for year 1 & 2 exams
Based off mark scheme points so directly relevant to exams
Presented in a concise and memorable way<br />
Includes 80 card flashcard set & link to a quizlet so you also have an interactive version
Please note that the booklet only covers first year content & the flashcards cover both years. This shouldn’t make any difference as all information for every part of the specification over both years is provided here, just letting you know its in different formats!
Check out my shop for more AQA A Level Psychology resources: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/astarlevels
Data analysis combined with theory application to prepare for A Level English Language, in particular the Year 1 exam. Includes three tasks all based around consolidating theory learning and data analysis skills.
Task 1: glossary of 9 language and gender theory cards to be sorted under the model that they fit best with. Useful activity to consider which theories fit together and can be used to discuss a certain idea.
Task 2: a transcript of men and women discussing marriage that students should label with relevant theories i.e. a woman saying “jolly good” can be labeled with Lakoff’s ideas about empty adjectives as a feature of women’s inferior language.
Task 3 and 4: four different pieces of data - a very versatile task. Students can analyse each piece of data, match it up to one of the four exam questions and then pick one to write an essay answer to.
The poster included complements the activities pack. It is a straightforward resource giving a bedrock of theories, can be used for reference, revision or to support class/ home work.
14 practice essay questions organised in a workbook format for A Level English Language. Includes an essay template for each question to guide students to structure an answer.
Questions are written in ‘evaluate’ style i.e.* ‘evaluate the idea that some accents and dialects are viewed more favourably than others’*
Why it works:
Covers every topic: gender, accent & dialect, sociolect, world English, language change
Template helps structure answers
Practice recalling AO2 and arranging it with other theories to build an argument
Model essays for all topics in A Level English Language
Data analysis combined with theory application to prepare for A Level English Language, in particular the Year 1 exam. Includes three tasks all based around consolidating theory learning and data analysis skills.
Task 1: glossary of 8 studies/ theorists to match up with what they did. Great revision activity, and once complete, bedrock of studies for students to learn for the exam.
Task 2: an extract from a school newsletter attempting to ‘ban’ regional dialect, where students are required to think about the message this sends across, what theories relate to this, and then to plan/ write an essay using the data.
Task 3: I have selected what I found to be four versatile studies and asked three thought provoking questions about them that open up discussion, encouraging students to say something meaningful about the theory, rather than just repeating what is in every textbook.
The poster included complements the activities pack. It is a straightforward resource giving a bedrock of theories, can be used for reference, revision or to support class/ home work.
Four posters with the key information for each topic condensed onto one page. Produced by a student who achieved an A* in 2017.
Why they work:
Clear, colourful and organised in text boxes so easy to memorise studies
Brief summary of each topic can be displayed on bedroom wall and looked at regularly
Comprehensive set of notes full of theorists, linguists, facts, stats, examples, real world application and more
Includes accent & dialect, occupation, gender and sociolect
Please notes these posters are a bedrock of theories. If you want each topic written in more detail please see here…
Test yourself to remember the key theories by filling in the gaps. Once complete, then look at the essay you have filled in to see how the AO2 fits in an essay.
This is a great resource to learn theory because it tests memory… and a great resource for exam technique because it is a model essay answer.
Four gap fills for £4 - bargain!
This language investigation was submitted to AQA in summer 2017 and awarded an A*. This makes it the perfect example to show students what is required of them in the NEA. Includes full 5 page write up & data used.
Title: An investigation into the language used by politicians in resignation speeches
Why it works:
* Shows how to use current A Level study as a toolkit to study language
* Demonstrates how to organise & structure the write-up
* Example of the level of analysis & interpretation needed for highest grades
* Can be reworked as a template for *your* future (brilliant!) NEA
I also have an example of the directed writing & commentary: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/original-writing-and-commentary-example-nea-11721778
Follow my twitter to stay updated with more essential free resources and news - @astarlevels
Check out my shop for more essays and revision resources: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/astarlevels
This original writing and commentary was submitted to AQA in summer 2017 and awarded an A*. This makes it the perfect example to show students what is required of them in the NEA. Includes full original writing & corresponding commentary.
The original writing was based on Power of Persuasion.
Why it works:
* Shows how to use current A Level study to produce & analyse their own writing
* Demonstrates how to organise & structure the commentary by drawing on own work & the style model
* Can be reworked as a template for *your* future (brilliant!) NEA
I also have an example of the language investigation: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/a-level-english-language-nea-a-example-language-investigation-11721765
Follow my twitter to stay updated with more essential free resources and news - @astarlevels
Check out my shop for more essays and revision resources: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/astarlevels
3 student written model answer for A Level English Language. Includes both sources/ texts so can be set as a mock too.
This essay demonstrates how to apply linguistic methods & terminology to texts in order to explore how language is used to create meaning. Students of all abilities will benefit from an example of effective essay writing which they can emulate in their own work.
Why it works:
Shows how to select and analyse a range of language features, as well as how to demonstrate awareness of context and how meaning was created
Includes text A & B so can be set as a practice paper
Produced by a student who achieved an A* in 2017
Can be reworked as a template for your future (brilliant!) essays
Top band, student written model opinion article for A Level English Language. Produced by a student who achieved an A* in 2017.
This model article demonstrates how to convey understanding of linguistic ideas by evaluating and challenging the views presented in the text and by other linguists. Students of all abilities will benefit from an example of effective article writing which they can emulate in their own work.
Why it works:
Shows how to assess ideas from the texts within your own article
Demonstrates how to balance engaging writing with linguistic content
Produced by a student who achieved an A* in 2017
Can be reworked as a template for your future (brilliant!) articles
Easily turned into an assessment because text A & B are included. The model article can be used for reflection afterwards
I have also included a powerpoint that encourages students to look at each text in detail, make meaningful comments on it & then use these ideas to plan an opinion article answer. Would work well as the premise of a lesson but is not a full lesson powerpoint.
Model essays for all topics in A Level English Language
Write an opinion article about language diversity and variation in which you assess the ideas and issues raised in Text A and Text B and argue your own views.
Includes two transcripts with accompanying activity sheet & top band model essay response based on the data included.
Why it works:
Activity sheet guides students through the initially daunting task of analysing large chunks of data
Example essay shows students how to approach the question and balance data analysis with child language acquisition theories
Easily turned into a mock question since data is included
Essay can be used as a marking activity
Notes on spoken & written CLA, transcript activity and example essay bundle
Rated 5*!
This bundle includes four packs of exam questions for AQA psychology. Each pack covers one of the compulsory AS topics that appear in year one and year 2 exams: MEMORY, ATTACHMENT, SOCIAL and PSYCHOPATHOLOGY.
The questions are usefully grouped so that once you have revised the topic you can test yourself on a range of questions that have appeared in the past, giving you ample opportunities to get familiar with the types of questions the exam board have asked in the past and no doubt will again.
Even students who can recite their notes off by heart may struggle to achieve the top grades because they have poor exam technique, but this workbook is the ideal resource to improve exam technique simply by practicing!
I spent a lot of time going through old specification AQA papers to find the questions that relate to the new specification & highly recommend this exam focused approach to revision in order to access the highest grades.
Check out my shop for complete notes for all year two topics & yr 1 and 2 research methods: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/astarlevels
3 student written model answer for A Level English Language Paper 1 section A. The answer includes examiner commentary. Includes both sources/ texts that the answers are based on so it can be set as a mock too.
This essay demonstrates how to apply linguistic methods & terminology to texts in order to explore how language is used to create meaning. Students of all abilities will benefit from an example of effective essay writing which they can emulate in their own work.
Why it works:
Shows how to select and analyse a range of language features, as well as how to demonstrate awareness of context and how meaning was created
Includes text A & B so can be set as a practice paper
Produced by a student who achieved an A* in 2017
Can be reworked as a template for your future (brilliant!) essays